Archive for April, 2014

Until recently, we didn’t believe that we could do without coats and boots, but spring has finally arrived and the prison of outerwear is behind us.

Now what…after a deep breath and squinting glimpse of sunshine, have we learned to appreciate the beautiful outdoors, or will we sink back to the lethargic habits of hiding behind screens of various forms?

Two interesting things might change your perspective:

1. Today, April 12th is National Big Wind Day

On April 12, 1934, Alex McKenzie wrote about the wild day on Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Between noon and 1 p.m., the wind was 220 mph with gusts up to 229 mph. Then at 1:21 p.m., the wind out of the southeast was recorded at 231 mph. It is still the highest natural surface wind velocity ever recorded in the world, according to mountwashington.org.

In case you need to think about this idea, ask yourself these questions….

Do you see your child more agitated and aggressive when he is in front of a screen?

Do you see middle-schoolers texting the same friends they are standing next to?

Have you witnessed a lack of social skills and increase in obesity?

Do you struggle getting your kids to complete homework assignments?

Do you find it hard to engage them in conversation?

Does the discussion center around what’s trending, rather than what really matters.

But the biggest challenge hasn’t yet materialized

This generation of children believes everything on the Internet is true. This is without thinking it through, experiencing it, or discussing it with you. The Internet is the authority. It’s as if you’ve opened your front door to a world of strangers who are talking to your kids.

Take it back and Just Play

In support of Screen Free Week, I’ve committed to tweeting play ideas beginning May 1st running through May 31st. Initially I thought it might be a good idea to indicate age ranges for play ideas, but since they are all fun, let’s just say the ideas are appropriate for kids ages 1 to 100.

#justplay

Play is so essential to children’s health and well-being—and so endangered—that the United Nations lists it as a guaranteed right in its Convention on the Rights of the Child. We owe it to our kids to have a childhood like the one you remember.